Thirty-Day Readmission Rate and Costs After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in the United States: A National Readmission Database Analysis.

Background: The association of short-term readmissions after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on healthcare costs has not been well studied.

Methods And Results: The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Readmission Database encompassing 722 US hospitals was used to identify index PCI cases in patients ≥18 years old. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine the factors associated with risk of 30-day readmission and higher cumulative costs.

Reperfusion therapy of acute ischaemic stroke and acute myocardial infarction: similarities and differences.

The evolution of reperfusion therapy in acute myocardial infarction and acute ischaemic stroke has many similarities: thrombolysis is superior to placebo, intra-arterial thrombolysis is not superior to intravenous (i.v.), facilitated intervention is of questionable value, and direct mechanical recanalization without thrombolysis is proven (myocardial infarction) or promising (stroke) to be superior to thrombolysis-but only when started with no or minimal delay.

Enhanced sensitivity to drug-induced QT interval lengthening in patients with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

Patients with heart failure (HF) are at increased risk for drug-induced torsades de pointes (TdP) due to unknown mechanisms. Our objective was to determine if sensitivity to drug-induced QT interval lengthening is enhanced in patients with HF. In this multicenter, prospective study, 15 patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter requiring conversion to sinus rhythm were enrolled: 6 patients with New York Heart Association class II to III HF (mean ejection fraction [EF], 30% ± 9%), and 9 controls (mean EF, 53% ± 6%).

Pharmacokinetics of ibutilide in patients with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

Study Objective: To assess whether the increased risk of ibutilide-induced torsade de pointes in patients with heart failure may be due to increased ibutilide exposure, we sought to determine if the pharmacokinetics of ibutilide are altered in patients with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

Design: Multicenter, prospective pharmacokinetic study.

Setting: Four academic medical centers in the United States.

Percutaneous intervention through a Cabrol composite graft.

Similar to other surgical techniques, ascending thoracic aortic repair has evolved through a series of modifications, each with improvement in longevity, morbidity, and mortality. Until recently, most, if not all, aortic composite graft-coronary ostial anastamotic complications have been addressed with repeat surgery. Due to this, most interventional cardiologists have little to no experience in approaching postsurgical aortic composite graft-coronary ostial anastamotic lesions percutaneously when the anatomy is altered by a Cabrol interposition graft.